Berakhot 60b — the Talmud in English

One who enters the privy says

to the angels who always accompany him [as it is said, “For He will command His angels concerning you”]:

“Give honor, honored ones, holy servants of the Most High; give honor to the God of Israel,

and do not diminish your own honor by entering the privy with me. And although the Lord commanded you to guard me, I release you from that,” and therefore

“Withdraw from me until I enter and do my need, and I shall come [

I shall return]

to you.”

Abaye said: A person should not say so [“Withdraw from me,” and so forth

etc. ], because there is concern

perhaps

they will leave him

the angels

and go,

and they will not guard him from the harmful beings in the privy, and they will also not return afterward to accompany him,

but he should say

thus:

“Guard me, guard me,”

“Help me, help me,”

“Support me, support me; wait for me, wait for me, until I enter and leave,”

according to

for such

is

the way of human beings [

who require to relieve themselves].

When he leaves

the privy,

he says: “Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who formed the human being with wisdom,

and created within him openings, openings, hollow

hollows

[that are closed all around]

It is revealed and known before the throne of Your glory

that if one of them should be opened

[of the closed hollows, such as the heart or the stomach],

or one of them should be closed

[of the openings, such as the mouth, the nose, or the anus] ,

it would be impossible to stand before You.”

And with what does he conclude

this blessing?

Rav said:

“Blessed”—

“Healer of the sick.”

Shmuel said:

in this concluding formula

he made my father

[Rav]

everyone sick

[sick]. And since this is not so,

rather

he should conclude: “Blessed”—

“Healer of all flesh.”

For excretion is the healing of the entire body.

Rav Sheshet said:

he should conclude: “Blessed”—

“Who performs wondrously.”

For the body is hollow like a wineskin. And a wineskin that has an opening does not retain air within it, while the human body was created with many openings, and nevertheless the air remains within it; this is a wonder and wisdom .

Rav Pappa said: Therefore, let us say both of them,

and he should conclude: “Blessed”—

“Healer of all flesh and Who performs wondrously.”

One who enters to sleep

at night

in his bed,

says

the Shema reading that is upon the bed, and this is its order:

from “Hear, Israel” until “And it shall be, if you surely hearken,” and

afterward

he says

“Blessed is He who causes the bonds of sleep

upon my eyes, and slumber upon my eyelids,

and gives light to the pupil of the eye

. May it be Your will before You, Lord my God, that You lay me down in peace, and grant me my portion in Your Torah,

and accustom me to the performance of a mitzva, and do not accustom me to the performance of a transgression; and do not bring me

not

to sin and not to iniquity,

and not to trial and not to disgrace; and may the inclination

of

good prevail over me, and may the evil inclination not prevail over me; and save me from a bad mishap

and from bad illnesses, and may bad dreams and bad thoughts not frighten me; and may my bed be complete before You

[so that there will be no blemish or wickedness in my offspring],

and enlighten my eyes lest I sleep the sleep of death. Blessed are You, Lord, who gives light

to the entire world with His glory.”

Order of the morning blessings:

When he awakens

from his sleep,

he says: “My God,

the soul that You gave me is pure.

You created it within me; You breathed it into me;

and You preserve it within me;

and You are destined to take it from me and return it to me in the time to come. As long as the soul is within me, I give thanks before You, Lord my God and God of

my fathers, Master of all the worlds, Lord of all souls. Blessed are You, Lord, who restores souls to dead bodies.”

When he hears the sound of a rooster,

he should say: “Blessed are You ...

Who has given

the rooster

rooster

understanding to distinguish between day and night.”

When he opens

his

eyes,

he should say: “Blessed are You ... Who gives sight to the blind.”

When he straightens

[when he straightens himself]

and sits up, he should say: “Blessed are You ... Who sets the bound free.”

When he puts on

his garments,

he should say: “Blessed are You ... Who clothes the naked.”

When he stands upright, he should say: “Blessed are You ... Who straightens the bent.”

When he descends to the ground

and places his foot on the earth,

he should say: “Blessed are You ... Who spreads out the earth upon the waters.”

When he walks

[when he begins to take steps],

he should say: “Blessed are You ... Who prepares the steps of man.”

When he finishes putting on his shoes

[when he puts on his shoes],

he should say: “Blessed are You ... Who has provided me with all my needs.”

When he fastens his belt

[when he girds himself with his belt],

he should say: “Blessed are You ... Who girds Israel with strength.”

When he spreads a cloth

over his head, he should say: “Blessed are You ... Who crowns Israel with glory.”

When he wraps himself in ritual fringes, he should say: “Blessed are You ... Who sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us to wrap ourselves in ritual fringes.”

When he places phylacteries on his arm

[on his forearm],

he should say: “Blessed are You ... Who sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us to put on phylacteries.”

And when he places phylacteries

on his head, he should say: “Blessed are You ... Who sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us concerning the mitzva of phylacteries.”

When he washes

[takes]

his hands,

he should say: “Blessed are You ... Who sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us concerning the washing of hands.”

When he washes his face

[when he washes his face],

he should say: “Blessed are You ... Who removes the bonds of sleep from my eyes and slumber from my eyelids. May it be Your will, Lord my God, that You accustom me

to Your Torah and attach me to Your commandments, and do not bring me to sin, to transgression, to temptation, or to disgrace; bend my inclination so that it is subjugated to You

. Keep me far from an evil person and an evil companion. Attach me to the good inclination and to a good companion in Your world. Grant me today and every day favor, kindness,

and mercy in Your eyes and in the eyes of all who see me, and grant me good acts of kindness

. Blessed are You, Lord, Who bestows good acts of kindness

We learned in the Mishna:

A person is obligated to recite a blessing

over the bad just as he recites a blessing over the good.

The Gemara, the Talmudic discussion of the Mishna, discusses this:

What is meant by “A person is obligated to recite a blessing over the bad just as he recites a blessing over the good”?

If you say that just as, for good news, he recites “Who is good and bestows good,” so too, for bad news, he recites “Who is good and bestows good,”

that cannot be the meaning, because

we learned: “For good tidings, one says

“Blessed are You ...”

‘Who is good and bestows good,’

but

for bad tidings, one says: ‘Blessed is the Judge of truth.’”

Rava said: It was necessary

for our Mishna to teach

only

that one must

accept

the bad tidings

with joy,

and recite a blessing over them wholeheartedly, just as he recites a blessing over good tidings.

Rabbi Aḥa said in the name of Rabbi Levi: What verse

teaches that one should recite a blessing over the bad? — “A psalm of David,”

“Of kindness and justice I shall sing; to You, Lord, I shall sing praise.”

Its meaning is that whether You act toward me with kindness or deal with me in justice [that is, with suffering], I shall sing to You.

Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani said: From here

they learned that one should recite a blessing over the bad:

“In the Lord I shall praise the word; in God I shall praise the word.”

And they expounded it:

“In the Lord I shall praise the word

—this is a measure of goodness,

because the Name representing the divine attribute of mercy indicates kindness. And

“in God I shall praise the word”

refers to a measure of suffering,

because “God” means “Judge,” referring to the attribute of justice. David is saying that whether He measures out to him a measure of kindness or a measure of justice, he must praise the Holy One, blessed be He.

Rabbi Tanḥum said: From here

they learned that one should recite a blessing over the bad, as it is stated:

“I shall raise the cup of salvations, and call upon the Name of the Lord,”

and earlier it says:

“I shall find distress and sorrow, and call upon the Name of the Lord,”

teaching that even in a time of distress and sorrow one should call upon the Name of the Lord with joy, as at a time of salvation.

And the Sages say: From here

they learned that one should recite a blessing over the bad, as it is stated:

“The Lord has given and the Lord has taken; may the Name of the Lord be blessed,”

meaning that one must bless for what is taken just as he blesses for what is given.

Rav Huna said in the name of Rav in the name of Rabbi Meir, and a tanna likewise taught in the name of Rabbi Akiva: A person should always accustom himself to say: “Whatever the Merciful One does, He does for the good.”

This is like the case of Rabbi Akiva, who was traveling on the road.

When he reached a certain city, he requested lodging

[he asked for a place to stay]

but they did not give it to him. He said: “Whatever

that

the Merciful One does, He does for the good”;

that is what He does.

He went and spent the night in the field

[slept in the field],

and a rooster was with him

[to awaken him from his sleep],

and a donkey and a lamp

[a lamp],

a wind came

[wind] and

extinguished the lamp, a cat came and ate the rooster, a lion came

and

ate the donkey

. He said

Rabbi Akiva:

"Everything that the Merciful One does, for good

he does".

That night

[on that night],

an army came

[an army of enemies] and

took captive the

sons of

the town

into captivity,

he said to them

Rabbi Akiva to his attendants: “Did I not tell you that everything the Holy One, blessed be He, does, everything

is

it

for the good!?

For had I found lodging in the city, I would have gone into captivity together with all the inhabitants of the city; and had the lamp been burning, the army would have seen me and taken me captive; and likewise, had the donkey brayed or the rooster crowed, the army would have come and taken me captive.